Georgia had a mountain to climb going to the game against the Philippines in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Thursday night.
In order for the world no. 23 squad to reach the semifinals, they would have to win against Gilas Pilipinas by at least 19 points.
That was the price of allowing Latvia to run away with an 83-55 victory in their first game.
"This was Mission Impossible today, beating them [by] 19," Georgia coach Aleksandar Dzikic remarked after their game against the Philippines.
Funny enough, it didn't seem so impossible at the start.
Sparked by the return of Tornike Shengelia, Georgia blazed to a 16-0 run against the tired Gilas Pilipinas. The Filipinos were back on the court less than 24 hours after the upset over Latvia.
By the middle of the second quarter, that lead grew to 20.
The magic number to reach the semis was immediately in their grasp.
Unfortunately for Georgia, the game had two more quarters of play. The Filipinos used that time to lock into the zone to erase the lead.
It was Carl Tamayo who tied things up with a triple at 67-all with three minutes left in the third quarter.
But there was still a chance. Georgia still had the fourth quarter to blow the lead back up to 19.
It was Carl Tamayo again who tied things up via a triple at 78-all with eight minutes left in the ball game.
The match became a back-and-forth affair. But Georgia could not afford to have one.
With 14 seconds left, Goga Bitadze made two free throws for Georgia. They were up, 96-93. But they needed 16 more points.
Chris Newsome was fouled in the last two seconds. He sank the first one.
Then a curious thing happened.
When Newsome was in the act of shooting the second charity, Bitadze was already on the move.
The ball rattled off the rim and Bitadze jumped in an attempt for a putback. He missed.
Georgia won the game, 96-94. But they would still be the ones going home.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone admitted he didn't want the game to go into overtime in an attempt to get a win.
"We couldn't go into overtime. We had an opportunity to shoot a three at the end to try to get us into overtime and play, but we just felt we didn't want to give them an opportunity to try to extend the lead in overtime. But still," he mused in the postgame press conference as Georgia missed the dunk.
"That was a bad coaching decision on my part. I should have had Newsome... New should have had him hold the ball and just not even shoot that second free throw and get a violation. That would have been the smart move, but I just I blanked out. I didn't think about it and we were lucky we didn't go into overtime."
Filipino fans were all too familiar with this tactic. They tried to do the same thing ten years ago in the 2014 Asian Games.
Gilas Pilipinas was technically up by two points, 67-65, against Kazakhstan. However, they needed to win by 11 points to make up for the point differential and reach the semifinals.
So after Kazakhstan made the free throws, Jimmy Alapag passed the ball to Marcus Douthit to score an own goal.
The referee waived it off.
Funny enough, the coach of that team--Chot Reyes--was right in Riga to support Gilas Pilipinas.
The FIBA rules though are clear on the matter.
Rule 16.2.2 says: If a player accidentally scores a goal in his/her team's basket, the goal counts two points and shall be entered on the scoresheet as having been scored by the captain of the opponents' team on the court.
Rule 16.2.3 states: If a player deliberately scores a goal in his/her team's basket, it is a violation and the goal does not count.
Would Georgia have been able to create a deficit of 19 points in overtime? Maybe.
Would they have been able to force overtime in the first place? FIBA rules say no.
So it was, in the end, Mission Impossible.
"Well, you know what? At the end we we won. That's a good thing obviously," Dzikic said. "But we opened the game very good. Was it 16-0 or something like that? And then in the rest of the the game, it's like they scored 93 points."
He then rubbed his eyes, "I think that's too much."
"Our defense was not on the highest level. And in the third quarter, it was mostly individual effort and focus, which is again something that we will have to keep on working," he said.
"I'm proud of my guys. I really love them. Am I satisfied now? Simply, I'm not, because I believe they can do better."
Ten years ago, Gilas Pilipinas won the game against Kazakhstan but missed the trip to the semifinals of the Asian Games, despite an attempt to score an own basket to force overtime.
On Thursday, Georgia won the game against the Philippines but missed the trip to the semifinals of the FIBA OQT, despite an attempt to score an own basket to force overtime.
Funny how the world works.